WTA Tour title sponsorship with female focused medical technology firm ‘probably the biggest in women’s sports’

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour has agreed what it says is the biggest sponsorship in its history with medical technology company Hologic.

Replacing Sony Ericsson’s US$14.7 million-a-year former title sponsorship, the new multi-year naming partnership has been described by WTA Tour President Micky Lawler as “probably the biggest in women’s sports”.

Facing the challenge of a fall in income having suspended events in China over its concerns about Peng Shuai, who disappeared from public view last year, the sponsorship secures the tour’s finances, enabling it to maintain equal prize money with the men’s ATP tour.

Financial details were not disclosed, but according to the WTA, the investment by Hologic will “provide significant support across the Tour and to all of its members”, which includes tournament distribution, player prize money and the tour’s central organisation.

As the WTA’s new title sponsor, Hologic is also set to become the tour’s official health partner and “equality champion”.

Hologic is one of the world’s top medical technology innovators, with a primary focus on improving women’s health and wellbeing, and, having broadcast advertisements during this year’s Super Bowl, the WTA partnership is its first major sports sponsorship.

For Hologic, the WTA’s approach to handling the Peng Shuai affair in China was a factor in securing the deal, with Hologic Senior Vice President for Global Human Resources and Corporate Communications, Lisa Hellmann telling the New York Times “I would consider it more a catalyst to the conversation than the deciding factor.”

The Peng affair saw the women’s tennis tour suspended all 10 of its events in the country, including the lucrative WTA Finals in Shenzhen, which offered a US$14 million prize purse when it was last played in 2019.

The decision to prioritise the safety of its players over tournaments which accounted for around a third of the WTA’s annual revenue in 2019 was widely praised. It now appears to have been rewarded with a significant new backer.

As the official health partner of the WTA, Hologic will also apply its expertise in women’s health as the founding partner of Hologic WTA Labs, a WTA initiative focused on “health innovation and research-based projects specific to female athletes”.

More joint activities are expected to be announced in the coming months.

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